Connecting Toronto

July 7, 2017

This week City Council was asked to vote on the King Street Transit Pilot, a reworking of the central section of one of the busiest thoroughfares in the city between Bathurst and Jarvis Streets.

It may come as a surprise to many people to learn that, after our two busiest subway lines, the 504 King streetcar is our third busiest transit route, moving 65,000 people every day through a crowded street in mixed traffic.

While King Street has long been identified as a “transit priority corridor” and while many attempts have been made to improve service on this street, tweaks to parking and turning restrictions, increased fines for violations, all-door boarding, and adding supplemental buses to the streetcar service have not been enough. At the busiest and most congested times, it is often still quicker to walk along King than to sit on a streetcar that is held up by a single occupancy car, looking to make a left turn.

Clearly, a more radical solution is needed and TTC and City staff have developed a project that reduces the amount of car traffic through the central stretch of King, while still allowing access for local deliveries and businesses.

This year-long pilot will begin in the fall and will be subject to evaluation against a range of success criteria, most importantly the impact on journey time for streetcar riders and the quality of service that the TTC is able to provide.

This is the latest in a series of improvements that we are making to routes across the city, all part of our relentless drive to give you a transit service that makes Toronto proud.

Getting around on the TTC

Navigating a busy city like Toronto can be difficult; especially during the summer with special events and construction projects. The following tools can help you plan your trip, get up-to-the-minute service information and find out in real time when a vehicle is going to arrive at your stop:

Transit Apps

Transit apps allow you to plan your journey and get real-time vehicle arrival information using open data supplied by the TTC. Search for “TTC transit” on your mobile device app store to get access to apps like Transit Now and Rocketman.

Social Media

Follow us on Twitter @TTCnotices for up-to-the-minute service advisories, or ask a question by tweeting @TTChelps. Find fabulous photos showing what’s going on in and around the TTC by following @TTCInsta on Instagram, or like us at Facebook.com/TorontoTransitCommission.

My TTC e-Services

Register for My TTC e-Services to get current service information and e-alerts sent directly to your e-mail. Once you have created your e-Services profile, you can select the e-services and the specific service information you wish to receive such as:

Route-specific subway, streetcar and bus disruptions

Elevator outages

Construction

News releases/media advisories

Next Vehicle Arrival System

Next Vehicle Arrival System provides real-time route data for the next bus or streetcar arriving at any specific stop. You can access the information directly through nextbus.com.

Real-time information is also available via text message on your mobile phone. Find the stop numbers at ttc.ca under “Schedules and Maps.”

To receive arrival times for the next TTC vehicles (up to 6), just text the multi-digit stop number to 898882 (TXTTTC).

To receive arrival times for one specific route, text the multi-digit stop number, a space, then the route number to 898882 (TXTTTC).

To receive arrival times for a specific route going in a specific direction, text the multi-digit stop number, space, the route number, another space and the specific direction (N, S, E, W) to 898882 (TXTTTC)

For information, text HELP to 898882 (TXTTTC)

RSS Feeds

Subscribe to our RSS Feeds to receive service alerts, news, special events and more.

TTC Trip Planner

Plan your trip anywhere in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) with our Trip Planner, powered by Triplinx.

In person

TTC staff are always available to answer questions.

Service Alerts

Line 1 Yonge-University

This weekend, July 8-9, there will be no service on Line 1 between Bloor-Yonge and Lawrence stations only for track work. Shuttle buses will operate, stopping only at subway stations along the route.

Wheel-Trans will be available between the affected stations for customers who need it. Simply speak to any TTC staff member to request the service.

512 St Clair

Streetcars on the 512 St Clair route will run only between St Clair and St Clair West stations this weekend.

Buses will replace the streetcars west of Bathurst St and will divert via Christie St., Davenport Rd. and Oakwood Ave. for construction projects and the Salsa on St Clair festival.

The following routes will also divert for events around the city. To plan your trip, visit ttc.ca:

Taste of Lawrence – July 8-10

54/354 Lawrence

Fusion of Taste – July 9

37 Islington

73C Royal York

96C Wilson

Employee Profile

Name: Ammar AhmadPosition: Business AnalystYears of service: 5

I started at the TTC in 2012 as a signals tester for the Automatic Train Control (ATC) project and became a business analyst in Subway Transportation a year later. As a business analyst, I develop new performance indicators and automate them. I also liaise with the IT department to come up with new solutions to streamline processes, automate them and ultimately make them simpler. My favourite part of the job is the analysis aspect; looking at why the trains are late and finding the root cause. The people I work with make it enjoyable to come to work every day and helping to make a difference for customers is very rewarding.